If We Can’t Eliminate Buzz Words, Let’s Move Them
I was twenty-three years old the first time someone said to me, “I need you to do more with less.” Our Air Defense unit was going from a two platoon to a three-platoon model, but we were losing a few personnel positions and were given a reduced budget. When I asked the commander in what world was that possible, he just repeated the mantra. It didn’t make sense then. It doesn’t make sense now. I got to thinking that the overuse of buzz words and phrases is true in every industry. Much of the public and private sector are stuck with the same old, painful phrases. We all have our pet peeves that we love to hate.
Having experienced a few different industries, I have learned that restaurants, fashion, and sports, have their own unique tired terms. That’s when it hit me. Let’s flip the script, trade some phrases aways from the government and the rest of corporate America for some of these other industry phrases. Everyone gets a fresh cup of tea (I think I just made that up). In five to ten years, we can flip the script again. It will keep everyone on their toes (you are going to see a lot of cliches in this editorial). I’m starting with the first fifteen that came to mind. Here they are and examples of how they can be applied.
FROM…Government/Corporate…TO…Restaurants/Fashion/Sports:
Restaurants
Low-hanging fruit – “And for dessert today, we offer champagne cake with buttercream icing, crème brûlée, oh or some low-hanging fruit, basically whatever the chef can reach.”
Think outside the box – “I am so sorry you did not enjoy your happy meal. Maybe instead of looking for a prize inside, you should think outside the box.”
Drink the Kool-Aid – “I would not recommend that you drink the Kool-Aid. We had it shipped in from Jonestown, Guyana a few weeks ago and it has a bite to it.
Take it offline – “Quick Joey, before the customer sees, grab that entrée, take it offline. We don’t want them to know it has been getting cold there for fifteen minutes.”
Deep dive – “No ma’am. This is not a deep-dish pizza; it’s a deep dive pizza. Ours is so thick you want to just dive into it.”
Fashion
Move the needle – “If you ever want to get that hem finished, Claire, you need to move the needle.”
Push the envelope – “People are going to love our new fall line of the envelope dresses. But if we want to win at fashion week, we must really push the envelope.
Raise the bar – “Oh sweetie, this skirt won’t do at all. We can’t even see your knees. You need to raise the bar. Higher. Higher. That’s it.”
Back to the drawing board – “This outfit doesn’t fit her at all. Put your model’s back to the drawing board and trace her. Maybe then you will figure it out the proper form.”
Close the loop – “This haute couture fashion line is just not selling in the Americas. We need to close the loop and focus on sales in Europe.”
Sports
Close the deal – “That defensive end is putting too much pressure on the quarterback. There’s a huge hole in the offensive line. We need the left tackle and left guard to close the deal and take him out.”
Bandwidth – “If you don’t pay more attention out there, I will replace you with a cheerleader or a drum major over there. Both of them have more bandwidth than you.”
Brainstorm – “On this blitz play, I need # 72 to rush and hit the quarterback low, while # 55, you come in and hit him high, give him the full brainstorm.”
Drill down – “Listen up. I want each of you to run twenty times across the court and twenty times back. Drill up. Drill down. Twenty times. Go!”
New normal – “Remember guys, tripping is now a fifteen-yard penalty. What are you gonna do. Like all rule changes, it’s the new normal.
FROM… Restaurants/Fashion/Sports …TO…Government/Corporate:
Restaurant
Elevate the dish – “Johnson, I appreciate your efforts on our corporate downsizing plan, but it needs some work. Take some time to elevate the dish and bring it back to me for a second review.”
A la Carte – “Not sure what you are looking for boss, so I have outlined some A la Carte courses of action for you.”
Dead Plate – “Sullivan, I hate to tell you this, but your proposal is a dead plate. We are never going to do that.”
Mise en place – “When the exercise begins, I want to see mise en place, or we will start all over and do it again tomorrow.”
Sous Chef – “Okay, Gina, I am going to make you the project lead for this new construction job. It is time you stop being just a sous chef.”
Fashion
Vintage – “We had the highest output of widgets in 2014. We need to score another vintage win like that again this year.”
Accessorize – “I understand the operation and sales plans as you have explained them, Alex, I just think you can, I don’t know, accessorize them more.”
Swag – “I don’t think there is enough money in the budget. We need to generate some more swag to pull this off.”
Slay – “That! That’s the way you make a sales pitch, Amanda! The rest of you – I want you to slay like that moving forward. Slay, girl!
Vogue – “Mr. Gordon, that’s the same management plan you presented last year. Bring me something vogue or don’t bring it at all.
Sports
Control the boards – “Bruce, if we are going to keep up with other businesses, I need you to control the boards.”
Bush league – “Susan, that entire presentation was bush league. I know you can do better.”
Audible – “Well that didn’t work and the deadline it tomorrow. I’m calling an audible.”
Checked Swing – “I’m not going to reprimand you this time, Harold. I see that you checked swing. But be more careful next time.”
Halfcourt Shot – “I think we are about to lose this client. Let’s give it a halfcourt shot and hope for the best.”
Which work phrases do you love to hate? I mean, teamwork makes the dreamwork, am I right? I want to pick your brain. It’s not about synergy. It’s more like apples and oranges. It’s totally a win-win. Failure is not an option. That’s why I came up with this paradigm shift. I put all my ducks in a row. Now I am ready to put a pin in it. I may come back if I have an alibi.
I certainly could have come up with more phrases to flip.
I was just trying to do more with less.
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Stoneking Strategic Communications (SSC) 